Blackjack on:

Sticky Bonuses

These days, sticky bonuses, aka playable bonuses aka non-cashable bonuses are becoming almost as common as cashable bonuses. In a sticky bonus, the casino will give you money to play with, but don’t expect to keep it; you’re just using it to play with in the casino. When you leave, that money doesn’t get to come with you. While this might sound like a bad deal, don’t dismiss a good sticky bonus; you will be able to keep any winnings you make off of the bonus money, meaning that with a little luck, you’re still likely to come out ahead in the end. This bonus is also known as a free play bonus,

What is a Sticky Bonus?

A sticky bonus is any online casino bonus in which the bonus money is only intended to be used for playing in the casino. At the end of a sticky bonus, you won’t be allowed to withdraw the bonus money you were given. Depending on the type of sticky bonus you received, one of two things will happen to that money:

When you finish the bonus, the bonus amount will be removed from your account. Thus, if you received a sticky bonus of $1,000, your balance will be reduced by $1,000 before any withdrawals can be made.

Alternately, the bonus money will stay in your account, so you may continue to play using the sticky bonus funds. However, even in this scenario, you will never be able to withdraw the amount of the sticky bonus.

Obviously, the second version of the sticky bonus is more favorable to the player; however, it is almost much less common than the first type.

Sticky Bonus Strategies

Due to the fact that sticky bonuses are a bit unusual, it can be difficult to understand the best strategies to use when clearing a sticky bonus.

The short answer is to be as aggressive as possible, making big bets to take advantage of the fact that you’re not really “losing” anything when you lose your bonus balance; after all, the casino was going to take that money away from you anyway!

Imagine, for instance, that you have a $250 deposit and a $250 bonus. If you wager all $500 on red on a single spin of the roulette wheel, there are two possibilities: you can win $500, all of which you get to keep, or you can lose your $250 (along with $250 that really belongs to the casino). Mathematically, this bet is worth an average profit of $114.86 to the player!

If you win that bet, you can keep making big bets – though now with a smaller edge, since you’ll be using your own winnings along with the casino’s cash – or you can switch to smaller bets to finish off the casino’s wagering requirements, locking in a portion of your winnings. In the long run, this strategy truly is profitable for the player, even though you will often go bust when you lose that first big bet.

However, things are never that simple. For one thing, casinos know this works too, and many have placed restrictions on what percentage of your account balance you can wager on any individual bet. Secondly, even if there’s no specific prohibition to putting all of your money down on a single bet, a casino may label you as a bonus abuser for trying the tactic.

With that in mind, the best way to handle sticky bonuses is to use them aggressively, but within the bounds set up by your casino’s bonus terms and conditions to make sure you won’t have your bonus voided. If you have any question as to whether or not a betting strategy you want to try will get you in trouble, it may be best to ask your casino’s customer support staff first to make sure.